Guns to gardening tools: one group’s initiative to get firearms off the streets

SOUTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/Gray News) - A nationally recognized forging demonstration is doing its part in taking firearms off the streets in a unique way by turning guns into gardening tools.

Bishop Jim Curry of Swords to Plowshares told WGGB about their initiative to get guns off the streets by turning them into gardening tools.

“This is about making an instrument of nurture out of an instrument of potential harm,” he said.

Curry said the group turns guns into a shovel or trowel before making a handle to go with it.

“This is a pretty heavy-duty tool and will probably last forever,” he said.

Swords to Plowshares acquires the guns by working with local law enforcement agencies across New England that host gun buyback programs. They then host events to show people the process of repurposing these firearms to accommodate those with green thumbs.

“We find it’s not so much a gun problem as it is a heart problem, so we’re making these hearts to symbolize turning them into love,” blacksmith John Cerritelli said.

Curry said he hopes his demonstrations can send a message of gun safety to inspire safe gun ownership.

“What I want people to learn is that if you have to have a gun, if you want to have a gun, store it safely,” he said. “You can also choose not to have a gun.”

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